International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior - Case Study Example

Introduction Expatriate failure if defined as the state where people sent by multinational companies to undertake overseas assignments return home prematurely due to varied reasons that affect the performance of the expatriate in the new working environment (Varner, 2002). Expatriate failure has increasingly become an issue of great concern to multinational corporations prompting numerous research studies by human resource practitioners and academicians. Expatriate failure is also viewed differently as the underachievement on the part of the expatriate in achieving the objectives for which he/she was sent to undertake (Swaak, 2005). The reason why expatriate failure is an issue of great concern is that it reflects the inability of an organization to internationally to manage its human resource. Hence, expatriate failure reflects the failure of an organization’s international human resource strategies (Stone, 2004). As organisations seek to expand into the global and international markets, the issue of expatriate failure has therefore come to limelight with many organizations seeking means and ways of preventing and minimising the rate of expatriate failure. Expatriates are used mainly for expertise reasons and the need to have greater corporate control as multinational corporations expand to international markets. Hence, expatriate failure can threaten the capability of the organization in the global market as well as threaten performance of the organization in the global environment. The purpose of this paper is to explore the issue of expatriate failure. Specifically, this paper will explore what multinational corporations can do to minimise the risk of expatriate failure as a way of enhancing the success of multinational corporations in the global environment. As stated there above, many reasons contribute to expatriate failure. According to Weech (2001) culture shock is one of the major reasons for expatriate failure. Weech (2001) defined culture shock as the stress caused by the inability of an individual to integrate effectively into a foreign culture. Culture shock is also viewed as psychological affliction that crops up when confusion and anxiety engulfs an individual due to different beliefs and customs a person finds him or her in a different environment (Solomon, 2003). Among the components of culture shock include frustrations, irritability and depression that cause heighted levels of homesickness. Culture shock results into reduced performance as the expatriate spends most of the time nursing his or her anxiety and confusion rather than undertaking the duties assigned to them. Weech (2001) held that culture shock comes as the second stage of expatriate adjustment after the honeymoon stage. In the honeymoon stage, the expatriate are fascinated and excited by the fact of being in a new environment or country (Ferraro, 2010). The excitement is also accelerated by the beauty of sounds and sights found in the new country. However, the honeymoon stage slowly translates itself into the culture shock stage when the expatriates come to terms with the magnitude of problems and barriers that face them in the interactive environment and the workplace. One of the evident aspects of culture shock that form the greatest barriers to expatriate performance is language barrier. Inability to communicate effectively with people in the workplace cripples every other activity to be undertaken in the organization (Mendenhall, Oddou and Stahl, 2006). Expatriates find themselves in the dire need for an interpreter in order to pass their messages across to other people. This problem is worse particularly to the managers whose duty is to guide the rest of the employees in the organization. The other aspect of culture shock that faces expatriates is traditional beliefs. This barrier to expatriate performance is largely associated with female expatriates. In many cultures, women are regarded as inferior to men and thus men find it hard to take instructions from women (Mendenhall, Oddou and Stahl, 2006). As a result, female expatriates find themselves in great problems when managing an organization with both female and male employees. Hence, culture shock is one of the challenges faced by expatriates when on international assignments. Anderson (2001) noted that inability of the spouse to adjust to the new environment is also another major reason for expatriate failure. Anderson (2001) held that multinational corporations put emphasis on family values as a mechanism for success in the working environment. As a result, expatriates are required to relocate with their spouses and the entire family when taking over international assignments. However, the failure by one of the spouses to adapt to the new environment either due to climatic change that cause or spark an illness or due to inability to express themselves through communication is a major issue that result to expatriate failure. Anderson (2001) noted that most expatriates opt to return home prematurely in order to save the family relationship rather than stay in a foreign country and break their family relationship. Inability of one of the spouses to adjust to the new environment also result from the inability of the spouse to perform his/her duties effectively in the new environment. For example, a woman may be inhibited by language barrier from shopping for her family needs. Similarly, language barrier may inhibit a man from getting a job of his choice in the new country. These and many more factors result into frustration and inability to fit into the new system. Bonache and Brewster (2001) noted that inability of the manager to adapt to new business practices in a foreign country is another major reason for expatriate failure. Bonache and Brewster (2001) held that different countries have different business practices and customs. In this regard, business practices in Japan are different from business practices in America. While flexibility determines the success of a manager in a different business environment, Bonache and Brewster (2001) observed that some managers or individuals are inflexible and thus fail to adjust to the new environment within a short time. The crash in business practices in different countries becomes a source of frustration for managers or expatriates. The frustration is translated into organisational conflicts which affect the relationship between the expatriate and the rest of the employees in an overseas organization. A good example that comes to the fore on the differences in business practices in different countries is time management. While time management is a significant issue in the United States, time management it is not perceived significantly in Japan and other South Asian countries. Hence, an expatriate from America may find it hard to adjust to delays in project completion because Japanese employees do not regard time as a major issue in project completion (Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 2004). Hence, inability of the expatriate to adjust to new business practices in a new country is another major reason for expatriate failure. In spite of the above reasons that lead to expatriate failure, this problem can be prevented or minimise in a number of ways. Clark, Grant and Heijltjes (2000) noted that expatriate failure can be prevented through pre-departure training (Clark, Grant and Heijltjes, 2000). The researchers defined pre-departure training as the process of training the expatriates on the basic issues that they need to know in preparation for the new environment. Such basic aspects include greetings, knowledge of major streets in the city or town, the location of the expatriate’s embassy in the new country, location of schools and other requirements that may necessitate easy integration into the new environment. Clark, Grant and Heijltjes (2000) held that basic knowledge about the basic things in life make it easy for expatriates to settle in the new county without the need for an individual to guide them. This lifts off the heap of frustration the expatriate would face if they lacked such basic knowledge through pre-departure training. Additionally, Riusala (2000) observed that flexibility is an important factor that should be put into consideration when making the choice for the expatriate. Riusala (2000) noted that flexibility coupled with emotional maturity makes it easy for expatiate to integrate easily into a new culture. Emotional maturity enables the expatriate to withstand every frustration that might crop up due to culture shock. Emotional maturity on the part of the expatriate helps him/her to balance between social status and responsibility particularly when the overseas assignment comes with prestigious salary and standards of living (Briscoe, Schuler and Tarique, 2012). Flexibility helps the expatriate to adjust not only to the new environment but also adjust to the new social status without emotional breakdown. According to Selmer (2000), proper management of family stress is another major solution to expatriate failure. Multinational companies’ anticipating sending their employees on overseas assignment should facilitate family counselling sessions for expatriates. As stated there above, family stress brought by the inability of one spouse or children to adapt to the nee environment increases the chances of expatriate failure. However, prior family counselling on both spouses is an important factor that needs to be taken into consideration in order to prepare the spouses on the challenges they are likely to face in the new country (Lazarova, 2001). Some of the challenges include less time to spend with the family that the husband may have as he strives to settle in the new work environment. The spouses should be prepared to encounter challenges from their children as the children strive to fit into the new system particularly in new school environment. From the information provided above, it is clear that expatriate failure is indeed a major issue of concern to multinational corporations particularly in the contemporary business environment. The reason for this is that many business organizations are venturing into the global market to increase their market niche. The topic on expatriate failure is an important area of study that needs thorough research in order to determine the solutions to expatriate failure. The topic of expatriate failure needs to be zeroed down on particularly regions of the world. Even though different research studies have been conducted on causes of expatriate failure, it is evident that such research studies have been conducted on the general topic. Zeroing down on specific world markets or regions of the world would help to establish the particular causes of expatriate failure in different regions of the world. This argument is based on the fact that different regions of the world have different cultures, business practices and ways of conducting business (Adler, 2008). Hence, managing an organization in China would not be the same as managing an organization in the United States. The specific reasons for expatriate failure in American and China should therefore be studied separately. Furthermore, the topic of expatriate failure is an important field of study because expatriate failure does not only reflect the organizational failure in the human resource management functions, but it also leads to both indirect and direct costs. Costs associated with transport fares, costs for training expatriates, settling costs and increase in salaries can be reduced significantly when expatriate failure is prevented o minimised. Hence, expatriate failure is an important topic that seeks to provide important information to multinational corporations aimed at reducing the costs that might be incurred as a result of failure of human resource professionals in any given organization. Hence, expatriate management by the human professional should be based on individual’s personality and abilities to handle issues and challenges in the new operating environment. In conclusion, expatriate failure is one of the most significant challenges facing multinational corporations in the contemporary business environment. As organizations strive to reach the global market, the main concern is how to prevent and minimize expatriate failure. Expatriate failure results from in ability of the manager to adapt to the new business practices in the new country, the failure or inability of one of the spouses to adapt to the new work environment as well as the culture shock that engulfs the expatriate in a new country. In order to deal with challenges of expatiate failure, multinational corporations should undertake thorough training of expatriates before departure in order to prepare the expatriates psychologically for the assignments overseas. The expatriates should also be emotionally mature in order to handle the challenging issues that may arise as the children and the spouses adjust to the new environment. 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